World leaders to forgo G20 ‘family photo’ over Russia’s presence

World leaders will not take part in an official “family photo” when they meet at the G20 in Bali next week because of widespread discomfort at Russia’s presence at the summit.

It is traditional for world leaders to stand together for an opening photograph at the start of summits, usually the source of interesting dynamics as leaders rub shoulders and greet one another in public. But there will be no photograph at the Indonesian-hosted summit, which starts next Tuesday – even though Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has said he will not attend.

His long-serving deputy, Sergei Lavrov, will attend in his place. Lavrov has caused dramatic scenes at earlier summits by walking out at the meeting of foreign ministers after telling his counterparts that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not responsible for a global hunger crisis and that sanctions designed to isolate Russia amounted to a declaration of war.

During the Conservative leadership contest, Rishi Sunak had said he would not attend if Putin were present, though his position has softened since he entered No 10 with the G20 set to be his first major introduction to many world leaders.

There might have been pressure for other leaders not to attend if Putin had decided to fly to Bali. Western finance ministers walked out of an April G20 meeting to show their opposition to Russia’s presence.

Russia’s membership of the G20 means that British officials acknowledge it will be nearly impossible for the leaders to agree a communique at the end of the summit, and none has been agreed at previous finance or foreign affairs meetings.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been invited to address the summit virtually. He had said he would not take part if Putin was present.

Sunak will use his first intervention at the initial leaders’ meeting on Tuesday to address Russia’s invasion directly and emphasise support for Ukraine.

Last year’s G20 in Rome had an unusual dynamic for the group photograph, with the absence of so many leaders, partly due to lingering Covid concerns. China, Japan, South Africa and Mexico all skipped an in-person appearance. Other ministers attended in their places and leaders stood safe distances apart rather than shoulder to shoulder.